Behavioral Intervention Works To Reduce Risky Behavior

UCSD — In an effort to curb the rising rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) along the Mexico-US border, a binational team of researchers led by the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that brief but personalized behavioral counseling significantly reduced rates and improved condom use among female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The researchers observed a 40 percent decline in the combined rate of new STIs (including HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and Chlamydia) in the group of female sex workers who received the 30-minute one-on-one counseling intervention.